The present invention relates generally to computer devices, and more particularly computer devices arranged to receive handwritten input.
Contemporary computing devices allow users to enter handwritten words (e.g., in cursive handwriting and/or printed handwritten characters) and symbols (e.g., a character in Far East languages). The words and symbols can be used as is, e.g., to function as readable notes and so forth, or can be converted to text for more conventional computer uses. To convert to text, for example, as a user writes strokes representing words or other symbols onto a touch-sensitive computer screen or the like, a handwriting recognizer (e.g., trained with millions of samples, employing a dictionary, context and other rules) is able to convert the handwriting data into dictionary words or symbols. In this manner, users are able to enter textual data without necessarily needing a keyboard.
Contemporary handwriting recognizers are not one hundred percent accurate in recognizing words. Because of this, one type of recognizer returns a list of alternates, ranked according to probability by the recognizer. Via a user interface, systems may provide a list of these alternates, from which the user can select a different word instead of the word the recognizer initially guessed as the one that the user most likely intended.
However, alternates are provided on a per word basis, and many users do not at first recognize this concept. As a result, when a user is seeking alternates for a given word, the user often becomes confused because the alternates provided upon menu selection often do not appear to correspond to the word for which the user wants to select an alternate. In general, selection of alternates has not heretofore been a straightforward or intuitive operation.
Briefly, the present invention provides a method and system for facilitating the selection of alternates by selecting a word for the user based on the cursor position and/or state of the system. In one embodiment, if the user places the cursor on the screen within a word (or just outside a word) having alternates and requests an alternate selection operation, a mechanism incorporating a set of rules selects that word, prior to bringing up the menu of alternates, based on the cursor location. If multiple words are selected, the system selects the first word of those selected that has an alternate. Menu options to go to the next or previous recognized word may also be placed on the menu for easy navigation among words.
Optional enhancements include enabling a user to automatically walk through multiple word sets to receive alternates therefor, one-word at a time, thereby avoiding the need for individual manual selection of each word. Words that the recognizer believes correct to a high actual probability (or high relative probability) may be skipped over in the automatic process; the user can adjust such sensitivity settings. Another optional enhancement includes modifying the display to reflect words that the recognizer is less confident are correct, (e.g., underlining with wavy colored lines), to emphasize to the user the possibility of incorrect recognition for such lower probability words.
Other advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which: